FINALLY! ATTA and Al-Shehhi Visas Approved!
flapjack,
Well, the GOP may have a members only briefing in mind on national security. But when the rubber meets the road, you gotta wonder if anyone is minding the store:
reuters.com
From the Egg-on-our-face Department:
Bush Orders Probe of INS Letters on Hijacker Visas
March 13, 2002 12:55 PM ET
Reuters Photo
By Adam Entous
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Saying President Bush was "very displeased," the White House on Wednesday launched an investigation into why the Florida flight school where two of the Sept. 11 hijackers trained received notices this week that their student visas had been approved.
"He (Bush) wants to know how and why this happened, and he wants it fixed," White House spokesman Scott McClellan said, adding the president had asked Homeland Security Director Tom Ridge to work with Attorney General John Ashcroft to "get to the bottom of this" as quickly as possible.
A Justice Department official, describing Ashcroft as "extremely concerned and furious," said the attorney general would have the department's inspector general investigate "as soon as possible."
The U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service said on Tuesday that Mohamed Atta and Marwan Al-Shehhi were notified last summer of the change in their visa status from visitor to student but the "secondary notification" to the school did not go out until after the paperwork had been done manually.
Both Atta and Al-Shehhi trained at Huffman Aviation International in Venice, Florida, and are believed to have piloted the two planes that destroyed the World Trade Center in New York on Sept. 11.
Atta's application to change his non-immigrant status was approved on July 17, 2001, and Al-Shehhi's was approved on Aug. 9, 2001, the INS said.
"Notices to students are automatically generated upon approval. Secondary notification to the school occurs later, after data is manually entered at an INS contract facility," an INS statement said.
Asked whether the head of the INS, who was appointed by Bush, or other employees might be fired, the Justice Department official said the agency would await the inspector general's report.
"Is accountability a concern here? Absolutely," the official said. "There's no question there are problems within the INS. ... This should not happen, point blank."
Sen. Edward Kennedy, a Massachusetts Democrat, called the incident "an embarrassing mistake" that showed the INS had serious problems. Kennedy is the chief Senate sponsor of legislation to update technology at the INS and close loopholes in the immigration system.
McClellan called the INS actions "unacceptable," and said the White House has been working with the agency since the September attacks to get student visa and other immigration records computerized "so that we can better share information across agencies."
Office of Homeland Security spokesman Gordon Johndroe said Ridge hoped to set up databases to help the INS screen applicants. "We're looking into it," Johndroe said. "We need to be more careful when we're looking at these things." |
